113 Saudi troops killed in clashes with Yemeni rebels

Published January 21st, 2010 - 13:26 GMT

The Saudi army has lost 113 of its members since the kingdom launched an offensive against Yemen's Shiite rebels in early November, a military command

The Saudi army has lost 113 of its members since the kingdom launched an offensive against Yemen's Shiite rebels in early November, a military commander said in remarks published Thursday. The Al Riyadh newspaper quoted Maj. Gen. Ali Zaid al-Khawaji as saying the dead include a senior Saudi officer whose body was found with two other troops after a battle last week to drive rebels out of a border village.

Al-Khawaji, the commander of the southern Saudi region, identified the dead officer as Lt. Col. Saeed Ma'tuq al-Omari from Saudi parachutist units and a veteran of the 1991 Gulf War. "There are field units searching for more bodies," al-Khawaji told the paper.